The Mitsubishi Electric Group has carried out the Design for the Environment (DFE) program since 1991. Through the DFE program, we implement a product assessment that evaluates the entire life cycle of each product from the "MET" perspective* and reconsider the design for products with unsatisfactory environmental efficiency, thereby improving the environmental consciousness of our products.

Under the 4th Environmental Plan, for evaluation purposes, the Factor X environmental efficiency improvement indicator is used to determine products which have achieved a superior level of environmental design, which are known as "Eco-products." Products that receive an extremely high environmental rating are certified "Hyper Eco-products." In fiscal 2008, 80 of Mitsubishi Electric's 167 product groups were designated as design-for-environment products. Of these, 24 products were certified as Hyper Eco-products.

Under the 5th Environmental Plan, products are divided into mass-produced products and other products. Mass-produced products include household appliances and mass-produced industrial mechatronics products, while other products cover individually manufactured products and those made to order. We set a goal to raise the Eco-products ratio to 100% for mass-produced products and 80% for other products by fiscal 2009, in the belief that all mass-produced products we develop must be Eco-products. We pursue optimal environmental compatibility for mass-produced products and other products by setting separate goals for each. In fiscal 2008, the Eco-products ratio for mass-produced products was 89% and that for other products was 64%.

Under the 6th Environment Plan and thereafter, we will work to achieve our Environmental Vision 2021 and will review our product evaluation indicators, which are used to show the level of achievement we have attained with our products.

Factor X is an indicator that shows improvement in the eco-efficiency of products, integrating the efficiency levels for several environmental conservation items. The larger the X value, the more the product's performance has improved, resulting in reduced negative environmental impact. In 2001, we were the first in the industry in Japan to apply the concept of Factor X for product evaluations. Under the 5th Environment Plan, we are working to develop environmentally suitable products that can achieve Factor 2. Factor X is a comprehensive evaluation that addresses the environmental impact of the entire life cycle of each product from the "MET" perspective and, since April 2004, the improvements in product performance.

Previously, the Factor X indicator was calculated by each household appliance manufacturer using different methods, which made it impossible for consumers to compare products from different companies. In 2006, a group of five home appliance manufacturers, including Mitsubishi Electric, drafted standardized guidelines for the calculation formula under specific conditions. Under the guidelines, the product value is defined by multiplying the basic function by the standard usage period and the environmental impact by the emission of greenhouse gases during the product's life cycle. Since fiscal 2007, we have been conducting Factor X evaluations mainly on air conditioners, refrigerators, lamps and lighting devices based on the guidelines, and intend to expand the range of products for which this evaluation method is adopted.

To achieve the Environmental Vision 2021 announced in October 2007, the Group intends to reduce CO2 emissions during product use and in the materials used, while discussing more appropriate methods to calculate and/or use Factor X.

The Mitsubishi Electric Group designs products for the environment by using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as one aspect of its product evaluations¹. We have a standardized LCA database with a total of 796 items that has been made available over the company intranet. Lifecycle assessments are mandatory for all products.

In fiscal 2008, at Hyper Cycle Systems Co., Ltd., the industry's first household appliance recycling plant run by the Mitsubishi Electric Group, we collected data related to the recycled volumes and energy volumes of each process and evaluated the environmental impact of material recycling technology concerning four kinds of household appliancesair conditioners, TV sets, refrigerators/freezers and washing machines. Of these four categories, the recycled volume of end-of-life TV sets is the largest. The evaluation made it clear that material recycling technology can reduce as much as 75% of the greenhouse gas emissions from recycling TV sets compared with the conventional processing method (reclaiming and substrate processing), thereby proving the superiority of the material recycling technology.

As part of our efforts to achieve a recycling-based society, which is a goal of Environmental Vision 2021, we will promote the 3Rs² for products to which DFE technology and LCA technology are applied. We intend to reinforce the creation of products with consideration of the 3Rs through the entire life cycle of each product.

We also strive to release environmental information on our products, aiming to establish an information base that enables sharing and optimizing environmental product information in the supply chain.